Machine for use in practicing football blocking



Aug. 11, 1964 J. T- GAINEY ETAL MACHINE FOR USE IN PRACTICING FOOTBALL BLOCKING 2 Sheets-Shet 1 Filed Feb. 20 1963 n r I. m mm g :v Q\ MN W INVENTORE d], G INE Y W5, GA (N 5 Y BY I ATTORNEY Aug. 11, 1964 J. "r. GAINEY ETAL 3,144,251

MACHINE FOR USE IN PRACTICING FOOTBALL BLOCKING Filed Feb. 20,1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I INVENTORS 17? GA/NEY MB.@A/NFY ATTORNEY United States Patent MACHINE ronusn IN rnacrrcmo Foo'rnALL BLOCKING,

John T. Gainey, Plainfield, Ind.

saidWalter ll. Gainey assignor to saidJohn T. Gainey Filed Feb. 20, 1963, Ser. No. 259,898 8 Claims. (Cl. 27355) This invention relates to a novel machine of relatively simple construction which is especially designed for training and developing football players and more particularly to training linemen in blocking.

A successful block executed by a football lineman depends primarily upon the lineman striking his opponent with greater charging force than that of the opponent who is moving in the opposite direction. As the opposing linemen are only a very short distance apart when commencing their charges, the initial charging speed or rate of acceleration which a lineman can obtain is of critical importance in executing a successful block and is of substantially greater importance than mere blocking power.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a machine or apparatus which is especially designed to develop initial blocking speed or acceleration of football linemen and by means of which this important characteristic of a linemans ability can be accurately determined and effectively developed.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawings, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a longitudinal substantially central sectionalview, partly in side elevation, illustrating a rear end portion of the machine;

FIGURE 1A is a similar view illustrating the other forward portion of the machine;

FIGURE 2 is a transverse sectional view through the machine taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a transverse sectional view of the machine, primarily in end elevation and partly broken away, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1A;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional view through a part of the machine, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 4-4 of FIGURE 1A.

FIGURE 5 is a similar view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 5-5 of FIGURE 1A;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 6-6 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 7 is a cross sectional view through a part of the machine taken substantially along a plane as. indicated by the line 7-7 of FIGURE 1, and

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view, partly in section, of a detail of the machine.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the training machine in its entirety is designated generally 11) and includes an elongated frame structure 11. The frame 11 includes a rear upright support 12 as seen inFIGURE, 2 including a transversely extending base member 13, a

pair of transversely spaced uprights 14, which are fixed to and rise from the base 13, and a pair of diagonal braces 15 extending between the uprights 14 and the end portions of the base member 13 and' which are secured thereto.

The frame 11 also includes a front upright, designated generally 16, including a base 17, corresponding to the base 13, a pair of transversely spaced uprights 18, which are fixed to and rise from said base, and a pair of din (1421 N. 7th St., Terre. Haute, Ind), and Waiter B. Gainey, Terre Haute, Ind.;.

agonal braces 19, corresponding to the braces 15, which extend between the base 17 and uprights 18.

The frame 11 also includes a bottom frame member 20 which extends between the frame ends 12 and 16 and which has its ends resting on the bases 13 and 17 and dis posed between the uprights 14 at one end and the uprights 18 at the other end and which is secured in a conventional manner to said frame ends. A second longitudinal frame member 21 is disposed above and spaced from the frame member 21) and has its ends disposed between and secured at one end to the uprights 14 and at the other end to the uprights 18, as seen in FIGURES I2 and 3. The longitudinal frame members 21) and 21 are preferably of channel shape in cross section, as seen in FIGURE 2.

A bolt 22 extends between and through the uprights 14 for. journaling a wheel 23 between said uprights, and a bolt 24. is similarly supported by the uprights 18 for journaling a wheel 25 therein. The wheels 23 and 25 are disposed the same distances above the bases 13 and 17 and provide supports for a beam 29 which extends slidably through the uprights 14 and the uprights 1B and which is supported by the wheels for sliding movement longitudinally of the frame 11. T he. beam 29 is preferably of inverted channel shaped cross section, as seen in FIGURES 2 and 3, and has an upstanding rib 30 extending substantially from end-to-end thereof.

As best seen in FIGURE 7, a bracket 31 is secured by fastenings 32 to the frame member 2-1 and extends upwardly therefrom. The bracket 31 is of substantial length, as seen in FIGURE 1, and is secured to a cylinder 33 for rigidly supporting said cylinder above the frame member 21 and below and spaced from the beam 2%. A push rod 34 extends longitudinally through the cylinder 33 and slidably through apertured end walls 35 of said cylinder. An abutment member 36 is adjustably secured on the rod 34 and is slidably disposed in the cylinder 33 with clearance between said member 36 and the wall of the cylinder. A long cushioning and rebound spring 37 is disposed within the cylinder 33 on the rod 34 between the abutment 36 and the end wall 35 which is located near the rear frame end 12. A shorter and. lighter recoil spring 38 is disposed in the cylinder 33 on the rod 34 between the abutment 36 and the other forward cylinder end 35. The forward end portion of the rod 34, which is spaced from the forward end of the cylinder 33, is threaded, as seen at 39 in FIGURE 1A, and extends slidably through an aperture 49 of a bracket 41 which is secured to and depends from the beam 2d. Nuts 42 and 43 threadedly engage the rod portion 39 and straddle and are spaced from the bracket 41.

An impact receiving member, designated. generally 44 and seen in FIGURE 1A, includes a rigid backplate 45 which is elongated vertically and longitudinally bowed so that its concave side faces outwardly or forwardly and is covered by a pad 46. A cushioning block 47 is secured to the rear convex side of the plate 45 and has an outwardly facing socket member 48 secured thereto. The rib 3i) terminates short of the forward end of the beam 29 and the socket 48 is sized to receive the forward end of the beam which protrudes beyond the rib 31). The rib 30 has a forwardly extending ledge 49 which overlies the socket 48, and a retaining pin 50 extends through aligned openings 51 in the ledge 49, a socket 43 and beam 29, as best seen in FIGURES 1A and 5, for detachably mounting the impact member 44 on the forward end of the beam 29 and normally spaced a substantial distance in front of the front frame end 11.

An elongated bar 52, which is preferably of inverted channel shaped cross section, has one end disposed between the upper portions of the uprights 14 and connected thereto by a bolt and nut fastening 53, which extends therethrough. and through the uprights, for

3 mounting said bar for vertical rocking movement relative to the frame end 12. The other end of the bar 52, as seen in FIGURE 1A, is disposed for vertical swinging movement between the uprights 18 of the front frame end 16. Hanger elements 54 are secured to and depend from side edges of the bar 52 and a bolt and nut fastening 55 extends through said elements 54 and through a roller 56 which is journaled on the fastening 55. The roller 56 normally engages in an upwardly opening notch 57 of the rib 30 and which has beveled ends 58 which are inclined upwardly and away from one another. The hanger elements 54 are located nearer the forward frame end 16 then the rear frame end 12. It will thus be seen that the forward end of the bar 52 is supported by the beam 29 and is disposed above and spaced therefrom.

A front plate 59, rear plate 60 and top plate 61 are secured to the upper portions of the front uprights 18 to form a downwardly opening housing 62. The top plate 61 has a threaded boss 63 for a feed screw 64 which is threaded downwardly therethrough. A plate 65 is disposed on the screw 64 beneath a nut 66 and is disposed for sliding movement in the housing 62. The screw 64 is capable of turning in the plate 65. A coiled expansion spring 67 is disposed in the housing 62 and has its lower end protruding from the bottom thereof and resting on the bar 52 and its upper end bearing against the plate 65 for urging the bar 52 downwardly to yieldably hold the roller 56 in the notch 57.

A post 68 extends upwardly from the bar 52 between the hanger elements 54 and the front frame end 16, and has a laterally extending arm 69 at its upper end which projects toward the housing 62. An arm 70 is fixed to and projects rearwardly from the rear plate 60. A dashpot, designated generally 71, includes a cylinder 72 which is fastened at 73 at its lower end to the arm 70 and which extends upwardly therefrom. A piston 74 is slidably disposed in the cylinder 72 and has a piston rod 75 projecting upwardly therefrom slidably through the upper cylinder end and which is fastened by a fastening 76 to the post extension 69. The piston 74, as best seen in FIGURE 8, has a port 77 therein which contains a downwardly opening check valve 78.

A gong 79 is supported by a post 80 which is fixed to and rises from the bar 52. A hammer 81 is swingably mounted on a rod 82 which is secured to the bar 52 for swinging movement longitudinally of said bar in a slot 83 thereof, said hammer being disposed adjacent to and forwardly of the gong 79. A spring 84, as best seen in FIGURE 6, has one end connected to the hammer and the other end anchored to the rod 82 for urging the hammer to swing toward the gong 79. A trigger 85 is pivotally mounted by a pin 86 on the rib 30 for swinging movement about an axis disposed crosswise of the beam 29. A stop element 87, projecting from the rib 30, limits clockwise swinging movement of the trigger 85, as seen in FIGURE 1. The trigger 85 is normally disposed forwardly of the hammer 81 and said hammer has a lower portion 88 which is disposed in the path of rearward travel of an upper portion 89 of the trigger. Accordingly, as the beam 29 moves rearwardly from its position of FIGURE 1, the trigger portion 89 will strike the hammer portion 88 and as said trigger portion is incapable of swinging away from the hammer portion 88 due to the trigger resting against the stop 87, the hammer 81 will be swung clockwise as seen in FIGURE 1 to allow the trigger portion 89 to pass therebeneath. When this occurs, the spring 84 will swing the hammer 81 forcibly in a counterclockwise direction against the gong 79 to produce an audible signal. When the beam 29 is moved forwardly, after having traveled rearwardly from its position of FIGURE 1, the trigger 85 will swing counterclockwise from its position of FIG- URE 1, when the trigger portion 89 strikes the hammer portion 88, to allow said trigger portion to pass therebeneath, after which the preponderance of the weight of the trigger 85 will swing the trigger back toward an upright position engaging the stop 87, as seen in FIG- URE 1.

The front wall 59 of the housing 62 is preferably provided with a longitudinally extending slot 26 to receive a restricted extension 27 of the plate 65 which projects outwardly therethrough and which forms a pointer for numbered graduations 28 which are disposed along one side of the slot 26, as seen in FIGURE 3.

By adjusting the screw 64 downwardly the pressure exerted by the spring 67 on the forward end of the bar 52 will be increased and accordingly the amount of rearward driving force which will have to be exerted on the beam 29 in order to force the roller 56 upwardly and out of the notch 57 will be thereby increased. The player untilizing the machine 10 will position himself a predetermined short distance to the right of the impact receiving member 44 and from such position will charge toward said impact member and strike it with either his right or left shoulder. The amount of speed which he can develop in his movement from his starting position until his shoulder strikes the impact receiving member 44 will determine the impact force which will be exerted rearwardly against the beam 29. If this is sufficient, the beam 29 will be driven rearwardly with sufficient force to cause the roller 56 to ride up the inclined surface 58 disposed to the right thereof as seen in FIGURE 1A. To accomplish this the bar 52 is forced to swing upwardly about its pivot 53 and against the force of the spring 67. As the beam 29 then moves rearwardly the gong will be sounded as previously described and the abutment 36 will move rearwardly in the cylinder 33 to compress the spring 37. The rearward movement of the abutment 36 with the rod 34 will occur after the bracket 41 has moved rearwardly and into engagement with the nut or abutment 42, so that the rod 34 will not commence its rearward travel until the roller 56 has been forced out of the notch 57. The spring 37 will provide a constantly increasing cushioning force to retard and then stop the rearward travel of the beam 29 and will thereafter return said beam to its position of FIGURES 1 and 1A and with the spring 38 cushioning this rebounding travel. When the bar 52 is forcibly swung upwardly by the roller 56 being cammed out of the notch 57, the piston rod 75 and piston 74 will move upward as a unit with the post 68 and bar 52, and the check valve 78 will open so that the dash pot 71 will not retard upward swinging movement of the bar 52. However, as the spring 67 thereafter commences to force the bar 52 to swing downwardly, the check valve 78 will close, so that this downward swinging movement will be retarded and thus, the beam 29 after having been forced rearwardly can return forwardly to its position of FIGURES 1 and 1A while the bar 52 is only commencing its downward travel, in order that the roller 56 will not ride on the rib 30, to minimize wear, and so that said roller will merely move back into the notch 57 after it has assumed a a position beneath the roller.

As it will be apparent, adjustment of the screw 64 will move the pointer 27 relative to the graduations 28 so that the user of the machine can accurately determine the amount of impact force which he is exerting on the member 44 and so that coaches can determine which players possess the greatest initial charging speed and which is essential to the successful operation of the machine 10 as well as to the execution of a successful block in playing the game of football.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may be resorted to, without departing from the function or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. A football training machine comprising an elongated rigid frame having a forward end and a rear end, a beam extending longitudinally through said frame and reciprocably mounted therein, an impact receiving member supported by a forward end of said beam and beyond the forward end of said frame, a bar extending longitudinally through said frame above the beam, means pivotally connecting the bar to the rear frame end for vertical swinging movement, a spring mounted in the forward frame and and urging said bar to swing downwardly, and means releasably latching said beam to the bar when the beam is in a forward position, said latching means including interengaging parts carried by the beam and bar, one of said parts including a cam surface engageable by the other part when the beam is thrust rearwardly with a predetermined force to cause said parts to be cammed out of engagement with one another for forcing the bar to swing upward against the pressure of the spring to effect unlatching of the beam from the bar.

2. A football training machine comprising an elongated rigid frame having a forward end and a rear end, a beam extending longitudinally through said frame and reciprocably mounted therein, an impact receiving member supported by a forward end of said beam and beyond the forward end of said frame, a bar extending longitudinal ly through said frame above the beam, means pivotally connecting the bar to the rear frame end for vertical swinging movement, a spring mounted in the forward frame end and urging said bar to swing downwardly, a roller suspended beneath said bar and crosswise thereof, and said beam having an upwardly opening notch in which said roller is received when the beam is in a forward position for latching the beam to the bar, said notch having an inclined end up which the roller rides when the beam is forcibly displaced rearwardly with a sufiicient thrust to cause the bar to swing upwardly against the pressure of said spring to eifect an unlatching of the beam from the bar.

3. A football training machine as in claim 2, spring means supported by said frame and acting against said beam for cushioning the rearward travel of the beam and for returning the beam to a forward position with the notch thereof disposed beneath the roller.

4. A football training machine as in claim 3, and dashpot means connected to the frame and bar for retarding the downward swinging movement of said bar for maintaining the bar in a raised position with said roller above the beam until the beam has been returned to a forward position with the notch thereof disposed to receive the roller.

5. A football training machine as in claim 1, and an audible signal actuated by rearward travel of the beam after unlatching of said latching means for audibly indicating a rearward travel of the beam sufficient to effect unlatching of said latching means.

6. A football training machine as in claim 1, means for adjusting the pressure of said spring for varying the force required to effect unlatching of said latching means, and gauge means indicating different pressure adjustments of said spring.

7. A football training machine as in claim 1, and wheels journaled in said frame ends and on which said beam is supported.

8. A football training machine as in claim 1, an audible signal carried by said bar, and means: carried by said beam and disposed to engage a part of said audible signal to effect actuation thereof when the beam is propelled rearwardly a sufficient distance to effect unlatching of said latching means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,109,551 Sacher Mar. 1, 1938 2,183,465 Noor Dec. 12, 1939 2,390,336 Spearman Dec. 4, 1945 2,644,334 Perry July 7, 1953 2,940,757 Britt June 14, 1960 

1. A FOOTBALL TRAINING MACHINE COMPRISING AN ELONGATED RIGID FRAME HAVING A FORWARD END AND A REAR END, A BEAM EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY THROUGH SAID FRAME AND RECIPROCABLY MOUNTED THEREIN, AN IMPACT RECEIVING MEMBER SUPPORTED BY A FORWARD END OF SAID BEAM AND BEYOND THE FORWARD END OF SAID FRAME, A BAR EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY THROUGH SAID FRAME ABOVE THE BEAM, MEANS PIVOTALLY CONNECTING THE BAR TO THE REAR FRAME END FOR VERTICAL SWINGING MOVEMENT, A SPRING MOUNTED IN THE FORWARD FRAME END AND URGING SAID BAR TO SWING DOWNWARDLY, AND MEANS RELEASABLY LATCHING SAID BEAM TO THE BAR WHEN THE BEAM IS IN A FORWARD POSITION, SAID LATCHING MEANS INCLUDING INTERENGAGING PARTS CARRIED BY THE BEAM AND BAR, ONE OF SAID PARTS INCLUDING A CAM SURFACE ENGAGEABLE BY THE OTHER PART WHEN THE BEAM IS THRUST REARWARDLY WITH A PREDETERMINED FORCE TO CAUSE SAID PARTS TO BE CAMMED OUT OF ENGAGEMENT WITH ONE ANOTHER FOR FORCING THE BAR TO SWING UPWARD AGAINST THE PRESSURE OF THE SPRING TO EFFECT UNLATCHING OF THE BEAM FROM THE BAR. 